Singapore, with a population of 5.6 million people, is a country with its citizens having the longest life expectancy in the world and widespread access to healthcare. However, with change of habits of the present generation and more stagnancy, the government of Singapore has raised concerns over the relatively high rates of heart disease and diabetes among […]

Singapore, with a population of 5.6 million people, is a country with its citizens having the longest life expectancy in the world and widespread access to healthcare. However, with change of habits of the present generation and more stagnancy, the government of Singapore has raised concerns over the relatively high rates of heart disease and diabetes among its fast-ageing population.

Consequently,
Singapore’s government has tied up with the US-based company Fitbit Inc. The latter has won a contract with the former
to provide fitness trackers and services to up to one million of the country’s
citizens as part of a health initiative that begins in October.

5.6 Million Citizens Can Get Free Fitness Tracker for a Year, But..

Singapore government’s
ambitious new plan to boost the health of its citizens has started. For
this purpose, it has tied up with the San Francisco-based wearables pioneer,
Fitbit Inc., in which 1 million people will get a free fitness tracker device
when they purchase 12 month subscription of Fitbit Premium, of 10
Singapore dollars (Rs 517) per month for a year.

The subscribers will receive personalised health advice and nudges, and it will encourage physical activity, healthy eating and better sleep quality among users. Fitbit said the program includes a consent process to indicate whether the users agree to share their data with HPB. The data insights will be used for more health promotion programs by HPB in the country.

In Fitbit’s collaboration
with the Singapore Health Promotion Board on a new population-based health
initiative, Live Healthy SG, Fitbit will be the ones providing free Inspire HR
trackers to participants who commit to a 12-month subscription to their Premium
service.

This Premium service is developed, operated and owned by Fitbit. This program will run alongside other existing population-based health programs by the Health Promotion Board, such as Singapore’s National Steps Challenge and Eat Drink Shop Healthy Challenge, where Singaporeans can take part in, at no participation cost.

Fitbit’s Shares Climbs Up by 3% in NYSE

This deal witht the Singapore government is nothing but a boost up for the US company. It so happens that Fitbit has been undergoing a reduction in its share values, with competition from companies such as Apple, Samsung Electronics and a raft of cheaper rivals, since the past 2 years.

Now, with an opportunity as such, the shares of Fitbit has reportedly climbed up by 3% in midday New York Stock Exchange trading.

In a sweeping change, Govt. has announced that they will regulate sale of every medicine sold anywhere in the country. A special portal would be launched soon, which will act as the hub of all medicines and drugs being sold in India.

As per incoming information, no one would be authorized to sell any medicine which is not registered in the portal. Every wholesaler, retailer, pharmacist associated with the selling of medicines and drugs would be required to be registered in that portal.

In short, Govt. will check every drug, medicine being sold, and to whom.

Is this the new medical revolution, which was promised by the Govt. earlier?

Why Govt. Took This Decision?

Sale of non prescribed, and illegal drugs to youngsters seems the trigger for this rule.

The announcement regarding regulation of medicines by Centre Govt. was made by Maharashtra Govt., when it informed a division bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N.M. Jamdar in Bombay HC.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by Mayuri Patil, which claimed that several Schedule H drugs which were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were being sold by online portals, which is grossly violating the provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

While replying to the PIL, State Govt. filed an affidavit, which stated that Centre is planning to regulate entire medicine sale inside India, by creating an online registration portal for all sellers.

The affidavit said, “The objective of such a regulation would be to ensure availability of right drugs that meet the standards of quality to every person in need of medicines, curbing anti-microbial resistance and also regulating supply of medicines online or over the internet to persons or other entities outside India,”

Medicine Regulation – How Will It Work?

As per the affidavit, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will create an autonomous body, which will regulate the sale of medicines in the country, by creating a special online portal for the same.

Some of the pointers:

Every wholesaler, retailer and distributor will be required to register with the portal

When they supply medicines to retailers, then the stock transferred needs to be updated in the portal

No retailer, chemist and e-pharmacist would be allowed to sell any medicine which is not registered with the portal

Pharmacy outlets would be required by law to update any stock received, sold and the number of units being returned or disposed/destroyed by any means.

Medicines under Schedules H, H1 and X of the Act will be sold only via prescription, whose copy needs to be updated in the e-portal

Prescribing doctor’s registration number, name and registration number of the chemist and the quantity supplied needs to be updated in the e-portal

And, the final kill: All invoices has be generated only via this e-portal

As per the details coming from the affidavit, it seems that the Govt. has devised a pretty fool-proof plan for securing the sale of medicines in India.

I’ve always been enthusiastic about the healthcare sector in India. In recent times increasing digital adoption in this sector is benefitting care providers as well as patients. I have been fortunate to be associated with several start-ups in this space and have observed their journey at close quarters. I would like to share some of […]

I’ve always been enthusiastic about the healthcare sector in India. In recent times increasing digital adoption in this sector is benefitting care providers as well as patients. I have been fortunate to be associated with several start-ups in this space and have observed their journey at close quarters. I would like to share some of these breakthrough ideas that I believe have the potential to change how we view and deal with healthcare.

1. Digital can not only create new care models but can also create better patient engagement and clinical efficiency.

India has some unique challenges, with almost 70 % of its population in villages, yet over 80 % of its health care infrastructure remains in the cities. Also, city-bred doctors don’t tend to relocate to villages and young professionals from villages who become doctors want to move to cities for better opportunities. In this situation, digital can provide a solution by leveraging technologies like analytics, cloud, social, mobile and the internet of things. Telemedicine, Remote ICU and big data are some options that have the potential to change the way care is delivered in the country.

2. Digital can increase access to care

Take the example of Delhi-based Lybrate. Founded by Saurabh Arora, Lybrate is using health advice and curated content to bridge the gap between those seeking health information and the experts providing it. But how will you feel if you could type out your symptoms on an app, give a brief medical history and then receive relevant health advice from a qualified professional? All that and more is possible due to increased smartphone penetration in India and better internet connectivity. Incidentally, most queries on Lybrate are coming from tier 2 and tier 3 towns.

3. Digital can improve access to medical education.

Good digital learning tools are a very important asset for the medical students. To understand this point, we need to first understand the basic problem these students face. The three biggest challenges in the study of medicine are the visualization of subject matter, integration of learning across the subject areas, and finally applying the learning in a clinical setting to solve a real life medical problem. Digital can address these concerns and organisations like Elsevier are providing quality medical education platforms.

Sensors are getting cheaper as they move from factories and robotic lines to being embedded in everyday objects, creating entirely new value propositions. We have smartphones that function with over 15 sensors. Smart coffee mugs that report daily calories, sugar, and liquid intake. Even a smart basketball that can improve a player’s skills and drills. And these are just a few examples of sensors creating value by making things smarter. A good example of implementation of these technologies in a healthcare context is Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai.

5. Digital can improve patient safety

In India patient safety is always low on the radar – what we cannot see or measure, we can’t prevent, has been the mentality in the past. But as per the Indian Confederation for Healthcare Accreditation ( ICHA) , lack of patient safety, overdiagnosis and medication are some of the biggest reasons for hospital-acquired infections and less than acceptable outcomes. Overdiagnosis is a chronic issue, with patients subjected to more tests than required and this adversely impacts their health. Sometimes the patient party is also subjected to some hazards like radiation. In 2015, Philips Healthcare gained a leadership position in Image Guided Therapy (IGT). They have now developed the next-generation image guided therapy platform known as Azurion aiming to improve procedural outcomes. With applications ranging from peripheral to structural heart disease, as well as neurology and oncology domains, there is a broad spectrum of new procedures that will be made more efficient by Azurion. This means lower radiation, lesser diagnosis with better and improved insights into results. Azurion was launched in India last week and adoption of this technology should significant improvement in patient safety over time.

Healthcare is an ecosystem comprising Hospitals, Startups, Medical Devices, Medical Education Providers, Government, Digital Infrastructure and Patients. All these parties must come together to improve health outcomes and Digital is enabling that. In the coming years, we would see massive improvements in the healthcare parameters in India.

In the historic speech made by Narendra Modi on August 15th from Red Fort in New Delhi, he suggested several beneficial plans and programs of the government. One among them has been appreciated and applauded the most: Free health insurance worth Rs 1 lakh for all economically backwards citizens. With 18 crore Indians living below […]

In the historic speech made by Narendra Modi on August 15th from Red Fort in New Delhi, he suggested several beneficial plans and programs of the government. One among them has been appreciated and applauded the most: Free health insurance worth Rs 1 lakh for all economically backwards citizens. With 18 crore Indians living below the poverty line, this mega health scheme can bring in a healthcare revolution in India.

This is the not the first time that PM Modi has emphasized on empowering and strengthening our healthcare system. In the month of June, he had shared his vision of creating a universal healthcare program, just like in the USA. This had been hailed as the world’s largest healthcare program.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said during one event, “The blueprint of the world’s largest universal health insurance programme is in the process of being sharpened under the Prime Minister’s personal gaze. It is partially inspired by US President Barack Obama’s grand insurance-for-all project, which is popularly known as ‘Obamacare‘”.

But is it worth it? Does India really need a healthcare program on the lines of the developed countries where all their citizens get almost free health cover? Yes, we do believe so. Here are 3 reasons which prove that this is the right time for the healthcare:

India’s Ageing Population:

Right now, there are 100 million+ Indians who are aged 60+, and by the time 2050 ends, India will have 300 million+ above 60 citizens as the total population will increase to 1.6 billion. Such a huge population will certainly need healthcare infrastructure, and without a state-sponsored program, it will be really tough to manage.

Healthcare Market Is Growing

As per a report by Equentis Capital, the total healthcare industry in India in 2012 was $78.6 billion, which is expected to grow to $158.2 billion in 2017. Per capital spend on healthcare (amount which every citizen spends on health issues) was $43.1 in 2008, which increased to $57.9 in 2011 and is expected to reach $88.7 by 2015 end. Clearly inflation and rising costs is directly affecting the per capita spend on healthcare. Rising awareness of health issues can also be attributed to this rising cost of healthcare.

Interestingly, health care providers in India are expected to spend $1.08 billion on IT services and software in 2014, which is increasing at a compounded rate of 4% every year. IT Entrepreneurs in health care sector will love this data.

Crumbling Healthcare Infrastructure:

Meanwhile, despite high costs associated and encouraging growth of health care, there are only 0.9 hospital beds for every 1000 patients in India. And even more dismal is the number of doctors: only 0.7 physicians are currently available for per 1000 population in India. 71% of the overall healthcare activities are still done in private hospitals, and the government’s contribution to the overall healthcare system is only 30%. Health insurance is being availed by only 15% of overall ‘skilled’ workforce. Overall, less than 20% of Indian citizens have access to any kind of health insurance (government or private; as per 2010 data)

A health program for all Indians sponsored by the Indian government will not only benefit the poor and the needy, but in addition, it can create a ripple effect wherein the overall industry gets benefited. Our growing health care needs is not being supported by the crumbling infrastructure, and this vision of the present government to reform healthcare is certainly one of the best decisions. We all are now looking forward to ‘actual’ implementation of the scheme.

I happened to read a report that appeared in ToI yesterday which says that Indian Government is considering Free Medicine for all initiative, especially for poor and needy people. This scheme will be offered through Public Hospitals and health facilities across the country. Prima Facie, this is an excellent initiative if Government is able to […]

I happened to read a report that appeared in ToI yesterday which says that Indian Government is considering Free Medicine for all initiative, especially for poor and needy people. This scheme will be offered through Public Hospitals and health facilities across the country.

Prima Facie, this is an excellent initiative if Government is able to execute it well. To avail this facility, citizens will have to procure a National Health Entitlement card (NHEC), that will guarantee access to primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare fully funded by the Centre.

There will be fixed level of healthcare services under national health package offered by center, but state governments are free to add additional services. The health package will focus on the most common and high-impact healthcare requirements only.

From citizens perspective, they will not be able to avail additional services just by paying a difference. This is to ensure that people who can afford to pay from their pocket or with their insurance services do not take advantage of this initiative. This initiative is primarily targeted at people who cannot afford medical facilities or insurance to pay for healthcare.

Some countries like U.K have very similar model called NHS (National Health Service), where free medical facilities are provided to to their residents.

In India too, currently, comprehensive health care facilities are provided free of cost to the Central Govt. employees and pensioners and their dependents under “Central Government Health Scheme” (CGHS). Every person covered under this scheme has a CGHS card, that entitles them for free healthcare facilities. It looks like the proposed National Health Entitlement card (NHEC) will also be based on similar lines.

Panel setup for this purpose calculated that 52% of the patients across India will take benefit of this scheme. This scheme will put a additional load of Rs 28,675 crore during the 12th Plan period.

If implemented successfully, this new initiative will surely usher a new era in Indian Healthcare space!

]]>https://trak.in/tags/business/2011/12/07/free-medicine-for-all-indian-government/feed/1011580A Medical College / Hospital in Every District, Could This Spur A Healthcare Revolution In India?https://trak.in/tags/business/2011/08/30/medical-colleges-hospitals-healthcare-revolution/
https://trak.in/tags/business/2011/08/30/medical-colleges-hospitals-healthcare-revolution/#commentsTue, 30 Aug 2011 13:20:20 +0000http://trak.in/?p=10551

Healthcare in India has improved drastically in the last few years. Sizeable private sector investment has boosted the hospital infrastructure in India and given the obvious cost advantages, Indian healthcare sector looks better than it was in the past. However, despite the recent improvements the healthcare system in India lags behind its neighboring countries. One […]

Healthcare in India has improved drastically in the last few years. Sizeable private sector investment has boosted the hospital infrastructure in India and given the obvious cost advantages, Indian healthcare sector looks better than it was in the past.

However, despite the recent improvements the healthcare system in India lags behind its neighboring countries. One of the benchmarks for healthcare efficiency is the grass root availability and government funding is a critical component which can foster the spread of effective healthcare across the nation.

The government seems to have realized the importance of effective healthcare and has embarked on a bold initiative to improve the healthcare system in India.

Indian government is planning to have medical colleges in each district. Additionally, each district hospital is to be converted into a training institute as well to train paramedical staff. Further, AYUSH doctors will also be integrated with these district medical colleges and trained to handle procedures like child birth in rural areas

I call the plan BOLD given the current density of medical colleges and the doctor to patient ratios.

Currently, Medical Colleges are available in only 193 districts whereas 447 districts do not have a single medical college

No doubt, it is going to be a momentous task to create these many colleges. Funding and execution apart, the government might find it difficult to sign up enough teaching staff even though a phased approach could be an obvious solution.

However, should this happen it will be boon especially to the rural India where the state of healthcare is poor. With significant opportunities in rural India, an efficient and easily accessible healthcare system will only benefit the overall development of country.

There is no surprise on how competitive admission to medical colleges is in India. Creation of new colleges is expected to lend some sort of balance to the demand-supply issue as well.

Also, it might end up curbing the insane donations charged for admissions to private colleges by agents across the country. With more seats, aspirants will be more hopeful of making it to one of the medical colleges.

What are your thoughts on this bold initiative by the government to adorn each and every district with a medical college?

Like all initiatives, execution is going to be a key here and I sincerely hope the government is able to execute this initiative to improve the healthcare system in India

Milk is the primary source of nutrition for the mammalian young. Milk has also been a source of food for humans and can also serve as a diet with sole purpose as complete food content with high nutritional value. In this age of adulteration and impurity, the need to maintain this nutritional value gains immense […]

Milk is the primary source of nutrition for the mammalian young. Milk has also been a source of food for humans and can also serve as a diet with sole purpose as complete food content with high nutritional value. In this age of adulteration and impurity, the need to maintain this nutritional value gains immense significance and this thought is gradually gaining pace amongst the marketers of the Ultra-high temperature or Ultra heat Treatment (UHT) milk across the world.

‘Slow and steady wins the race’ is the mantra for the manufacturers of UHT milk in comparison to mainstream consumption of commercially sterilized pouched milk. UHT milk has a shelf life of greater than 6 months without the use of preservatives or even being refrigerated.UHT milk has been largely successful in countries like France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Turkey among other countries.

Short-coming Of Commercially Sterilized Milk

Pasteurized milk effectively eliminates the potential pathogenic microorganisms, but it is not sufficient to inactivate the thermostatic spores in milk. The commercially sterilized milk, which is subjected to heat of temperatures ranging in excess of 100 degree Celsius, sold by your door-step milkman is not perfectly sterilized milk, free from all microorganisms. However, such polypouched milk is unlikely to get spoiled during the time it is under storage facilities.

The UHT Way

The UHT milk is sterilized at temperatures exceeding 135 degree Celsius with holding time of about two to five seconds to destroy airborne microbes and packaged in to pre-sterilized containers like Tetra Brik pack. The UHT process compresses the time taken to sterilize the milk which in turn leads to higher quality product with relatively higher shelf life vis-Ã -vis commercially sterilized polypouch milk.

Thus, the convenience of accessing milk directly from Tetra Brik pack at any time without any worry of the product’s shelf life and the benefits of UHT products for the health due to its efficient way of sterilization has led to some of the developed markets more savvy in preference for such high quality products which are also free of any type of preservatives.

However, in spite of various health benefits, the high price of UFT milk, which is in the range of Rs.35 and Rs.40 a litre, still remains to be barrier of this specially treated food among regular consumers of milk. On the other hand, a large part of the uninformed Indian public relate such specialized milk packs as hazardous for health and more worth for commercial use rather than daily consumption use.

UHT Also Serves the Ecological Way !

As posted in Times Online, “Officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have made a serious proposal that consumers switch to UHT milk to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Officials have calculated that by reducing chiller capacity in supermarkets, convenience stores and corner shops, carbon emissions would be significantly reduced. The move is not against the domestic use of fridges; UHT milk, once opened, must be refrigerated.

Bangalore, the next Silicon Valley? Now, the community has always been divided on this one. With its early mover advantage and it being home to probably the highest technology companies in India , some say Bangalore is ‘the’ contender to become the next Silicon Valley. A certain section of the community is very clear that […]

Bangalore, the next Silicon Valley? Now, the community has always been divided on this one. With its early mover advantage and it being home to probably the highest technology companies in India , some say Bangalore is ‘the’ contender to become the next Silicon Valley. A certain section of the community is very clear that Bangalore does not have what it takes to become the Silicon Valley of India.

As was pointed out in this post on The Next Silicon Valley – Pune or Chennai or ? , Bangalore has become the hub for IT service companies and it is too late for the city to change to a creator of new products. The reason is well founded to a certain extent and there are probably many more reasons to ponder if Bangalore really has the where wit-halls to take on the Silicon Valley.

One crucial factor where Bangalore (which is true for all other cities as well) seems to losing the battle is Infrastructure. The city has been expanding at a break neck speed with IT companies, hotels, shopping malls etc without paying heed to proper planning. The traffic management has deteriorated, public transport has not scaled up accordingly and as some say, the city is nearing saturation.

Things might change for good soon though for Bangalore. The true Silicon Valley has lent a helping hand to Bangalore city which could change the fortunes of Nemma Bengaluroo. San Francisco has chosen Bangalore to its be its Sister City in a bid to promote co-operation and understanding between the two cities.

San Francisco has singed 7 MOUs in areas ofÂ health care, water and sanitation, education and research, art, museum and culture, trade and commerce and fashion.

The Sister City arrangement is seen as a symbiotic relationship wherein,

Bangalore will benefit from San Francisco on solid waste and traffic management, while the former will pitch in to help the latter bring down its high cost of public healthcare.

San Francisco has a mandatory goal of 75% recycling of waste and Bangalore could definitely use their expertise in improving its waste management system. Another area that Bangalore could really benefit is the kind of entrepreneurship mind set that San Francisco could bring in it via cultural and education exchanges.

Bangalore needs to break out of the IT Services stigma and make giant steps in becoming an R&D and a technology hub. San Francisco is looking to reduce it exceptionally high health care costs by possibly patterning with the Biocon.

The alliance could very well be the breakthrough that Bangalore needs to become the next Silicon Valley.

What are your thoughts on this alliance? Would this Sister city arrangement with the real Silicon Valley prove to be the stepping stone or Bangalore has gone too far to accommodate entrepreneur minds?

]]>https://trak.in/tags/business/2009/12/01/sfo-helping-bangalore-to-be-the-next-valley/feed/83786Investing or not investing? Analyzing the risks of new India.https://trak.in/tags/business/2007/06/18/investing-or-not-investing-analyzing-the-risks-of-new-india/
https://trak.in/tags/business/2007/06/18/investing-or-not-investing-analyzing-the-risks-of-new-india/#commentsMon, 18 Jun 2007 17:18:30 +0000http://trak.in/Tags/Business/2007/06/18/investing-or-not-investing-analyzing-the-risks-of-new-india/

If you compare advantages and disadvantages of investing in India, it is a very difficult question to answer. It is a big risk - but it is worth taking. Many of them have gone ahead with huge committment...

If you compare advantages and disadvantages of investing in India, it is a very difficult question to answer. It is a big risk – but it is worth taking. Many of them have gone ahead with huge committment to India, even though possibility of failing in India is equal to the success.

If you are a regular reader of this blog I have written a lot on why you should you invest in India. In this post, I will very briefly touch upon the challenges faced. This post is also part of the series that I have been running on “Key Success Factors of doing business in India”.

Indian economy at present is doing very well, infact in last quarter India registered a GDP growth of 9.2 one of the fastest in the world. However, with it, inflation has grown at equally fast pace hovering somewhere around 6% to 7%. In the space of two years India has swung from a current account surplus to a deficit equal to 3% of GDP, indicating a growing gap between demand and supply.

A cover story in The Economist in February 2007 examined the potential for overheating of India’s economy and presented the possibility of sustainable future growth, making the inevitable comparisons with China.

The Economist observed “Perhaps the only thing really growing faster in India than China, is hype.”

Even with a huge population, India is still facing a shortage of qualified employees due to inadequacies of the public educational system. This is pushing wage rates up and eroding the cost advantage that has driven much of the economic growth in India in the past decade.

The state of Infrastructure in India is bad, if not worst. If India has to reach its goal of becoming a super power, drastic improvements are essential in roads, seaports, airports, power grids, and communication systems, as well as improved education and health care.

There is a huge difference in culture when it comes to doing business in India. However, for a westerner it is masked initially as they are used to dealing with persons of Indian origin in business contexts in the U.S and UK. Business negotiations in India are often characterized by indirection, ambiguity and seemingly endless revisiting of settled issues, and in most cases agreement is just the starting point for the next negotiation.

Corruption in government and throughout the economy adds to the cost of doing business and presents legal and ethical challenges for U.S. companies. Indian courts are said to have a backlog of 27 million cases, and it can take decades for disputes to be resolved in the courts. Patent protection is granted grudgingly and slowly. Labor laws are not very friendly. What is put forth by government officials about trade liberalization and open markets is not always what is played in reality.

India is one tough place to do business.

The picture does look grim, however, despite its many challenges and uncertainties, India is and will continue to be one of the most important nations of the 21st century, both strategically and economically, and the potential for investment by foreign corporations in India is great. Moreover, it is one of the most fascinating places on the face of the earth in which to do business.